Invincible Axis

The Invincible Axis was Adolf Hitler's ideal alliance in 1936, when he made various overtures to other countries to influence them into the Axis Powers. Italy and Japan ultimately formed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany on 27 September 1940, but many of the other countries did not join the Axis Powers.

History
In 1936, an ambitious Fuhrer Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany began preparations to make Germany a great empire once more. Germany bordered the fascist republic of Austria to the southeast and the large land of Czechoslovakia to the south, facing two countries that he wanted to conquer. However, Germany was the only member of the Axis Powers in that year, and Hitler wanted to form an alliance of strong and like-minded nations to help him in his goals. He sent Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath to several countries in hopes of forming alliances, increasing his influence on the strongest or closest countries. Japan and Italy independently decided to align themselves with the Axis Powers, but other countries such as Nationalist Spain (fighting in the Spanish Civil War), Nationalist China, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Hungary had to be convinced to join the Axis Powers. Hitler found it difficult to sway the countries to join his "Invincible Axis", which would be able to fight the Comintern from both sides. On 27 November 1940, Hitler of Germany, Galeazzo Ciano of Italy, and Fumimaro Konoe of Japan agreed to the Tripartite Pact, forming an alliance. Spain (under Francisco Franco's fascist rule) was nominally an ally of Hitler by that point, but Franco chose to remain neutral during World War II. Yugoslavia was briefly allied with the Nazis before Prince Paul was overthrown in a coup, and Romania and Bulgaria were both forced to ally with the Nazis until their 1944 realignment with the Soviet Union. In the case of China, Hitler abandoned them in favor of a stronger Japan, and he never had an alliance with Chiang Kai-shek like he had originally hoped for.